Recently I brought home a small black queen I could not identify still with its wings and a Lacius queen who was injured when I found her. I brought them both home and placed them in test tube setups. I check on them two days later to find that they both have drowned! Water keeps leaching from the cotton into the cell! However it isn't completely flooding the cell nor is it covering the entire floor, it really just is a bit. However both queens have drowned, probably because they became trapped in the surface tension. I am now worried that my test tube setup making is inadequate and I'm now concerned that I may drown any more queens I come across. I am using large cotton balls with test tubes that are about an inch in diameter. Is there a best way to stop leakage? Should I get larger cotton balls?

Recently I brought home a small black queen I could not identify still with its wings and a Lacius queen who was injured when I found her. I brought them both home and placed them in test tube setups. I check on them two days later to find that they both have drowned! Water keeps leaching from the cotton into the cell! However it isn't completely flooding the cell nor is it covering the entire floor, it really just is a bit. However both queens have drowned, probably because they became trapped in the surface tension. I am now worried that my test tube setup making is inadequate and I'm now concerned that I may drown any more queens I come across. I am using large cotton balls with test tubes that are about an inch in diameter. Is there a best way to stop leakage? Should I get larger cotton balls?

your queens are not dead!!!!!! if you still have them keep them! It is ridiculously hard to drown ants. even if they had been in the water for days they would have been fine. this has happened to me before and I threw away the queens before realizing they were most likely still alive and well. YOu shoudl probably use bigger cotton balls.

Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

your queens are not dead!!!!!! if you still have them keep them! It is ridiculously hard to drown ants. even if they had been in the water for days they would have been fine. this has happened to me before and I threw away the queens before realizing they were most likely still alive and well. YOu shoudl probably use bigger cotton balls.

really.? I know colonies can survive by working together (e.g fire ants are well known for their ability to float on the surface of water) but didn't know a single queen can survive too. I also threw away my queen because she was all wet in a drop of water and she wasn't moving at all when I took her out of the container. If that's the case, how to tell if she is alive or not.?

You can tell if any insect is dead based on their leg position. When an insect dies their legs all cross up. Next time you think your queen is dead I suggest putting her in a dry container for a day. That was she recover. If in a day or two her legs are crossed that means she is dead.